Shabu found in cell

These are now among the hiding places for illegal drugs like shabu, the police confirmed after separate drug busts in Liloan, Cebu City and Mandaue City since last Thursday.

The operations yielded at least P193,000 worth of illegal drugs. These also took place less than two weeks after an anti-narcotic unit stopped millions worth of shabu hidden in the soles of some sandals that were sent to Cebu through a courier company.

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In Liloan, policemen seized a medium pack of shabu and other contraband during a surprise inspection in their detention cell last Thursday afternoon.

They conducted the inspection after receiving a report of an escape plan among six detainees, including an alleged big-time drug pusher, said Insp. Priscilo Roble. He suspected the drugs were concealed in some packed meals that visitors brought for the detainees.

In a separate operation, a businessman from Cebu City was arrested in a drug buy-bust in Barangay Banilad, Mandaue City before dawn yesterday.

The police said they recovered illegal drugs with an estimated worth of P45,000 from Richard Tan Go, 42, a resident of Barangay Apas, Cebu City and owner of a shop selling motorcycle parts in downtown Cebu City.

Busy month

Also last Thursday, the police arrested Nilo Gingoyon Ygoña, 52, after a buy-bust operation. They found five big packs of shabu, worth around P150,000, hidden in a pencil case in his pocket.

So far this month, the Cebu City police have conducted at least five operations against drugs and arrested 15 suspects who are believed to be capable of moving large amounts of shabu.

In Liloan’s case, Roble, deputy chief of the town’s police station, said the reported escape plan was linked to a criminal group that fell in an operation by intelligence and anti-drug operatives of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) last June 14.

Apart from the white crystalline substance believed to be shabu, police also recovered cellular phones, belts and steel spoons from the detainees’ beds during the inspection.

The 26 detainees, all male, were interrogated by police for several hours but no one admitted owning the alleged shabu and contrabands. “Puro gyud sila ni-deny (They all denied owning it),” Roble said.

Visitors

Last night, the Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB) of CPPO got hold of a commitment order for Jayme, alleged drug pusher, and his companions. They were brought to Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC).

When interviewed by Sun.Star Cebu, Roble said this is the first time they confiscated shabu in the detention cell despite conducting regular inspections in the past.

The illegal substance will be brought to the PNP Regional Crime Laboratory Office 7 for chemical analysis. It may have been for the detainees’ personal consumption, Roble said.

Roble said the police also theorized that the contraband got in through the help of the detainees” visitors. “Kami ra ang gibantayan ana nila. Ihatag siguro dayon ilabi na kung ma-busy mi (They watch us closely. It’s possible they slip the contraband in while we’re busy),” he said.

Visitors are allowed to see the detainees from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. They will also be checked by the jailer, including their belongings.

In the Mandaue case, the City Intelligence Branch (CIB) and City Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group (Caidsotg) of the Mandaue City Police Office conducted the operation on H. Cortes St., Barangay Banilad past 1 a.m.

They also arrested Junrey Bacalla, 21, a resident of Barangay Alumnus, Cebu City and believed to be an aide of Go. The two were arrested after a police decoy and an informant transacted with them inside Go’s gray Kia Sorento vehicle (YAV-300).

Senior Insp. Hugo Rio Ipong, deputy chief of the CIB and Caidsotg, said they recovered three medium packs of what appeared to be shabu, each costing P14,500, and six smaller packs from the businessman, as well as a weighing scale.

The decoy used as marked money five P100 bills along with boodle money or strips of paper to buy three medium packs of shabu, Ipong told Sun.Star Cebu.

“We did surveillance on him (Go) for more than two weeks,” said Ipong, who led the operation. He said the businessman used to hang out in the area where there are casino games.

12 hours before

Ipong said that a case for violating Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 will be filed against the two suspects on Monday.

Go and Bacalla were detained in the Subangdaku Police Station.

Twelve hours before their arrest, two suspected drug peddlers were also caught during a buy-bust in the new Mandaue City Public Market in Barangay Centro.

Operatives from the Centro Police Station led by Insp. Jimmy Aguisanda, station chief, arrested Aldrin Ouano, 27, who was the subject of the buy-bust, and his companion Aljun Quindao, 24, past noon.

PO1 Mar Expidito Villamonte said three small sachets of suspected shabu were recovered from Ouano, a resident of Barangay Yati, Liloan, and two sachets from Quindao, who hailed from the northern town of Borbon.

In yet another operation, another suspected drug pusher was arrested in a buy-bust in Barangay Calamba, Cebu City. The police confiscated from him almost P150,000 worth of drugs last Thursday afternoon.

That’s where the police arrested Ygoña, an alleged level two drug pusher who can dispose of at least 200 grams of shabu per week.

Out in open

The operation was conducted by the City Intelligence Branch (CIB) and the City Anti-illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force. The CIB had received a tip that Ygoña was selling illegal drugs in Sitio Baho, Barangay Calamba.

The CIB chief, Supt. Romeo Santander, said they had placed Ygoña under surveillance for three days.

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